best kind of motor to achieve 100K feet

My college rocketry club is trying to build a rocket that has to reach
an altitude of 100K ft... and I was wondering what kind of engine
would be better? solid, liquid, or hybrid?

At Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:10:25 EST charles wrote:


My college rocketry club is trying to build a rocket that has to reach
an altitude of 100K ft... and I was wondering what kind of engine
would be better? solid, liquid, or hybrid?

It probably is not a matter of the 'state' of the fuel (solid, liquid,
etc.), as to what the fuel is and things like nozzle geometry. We are
after all, talking rocket science :-).

The other issue is: does it have to be a single stage or is a
multi-stage rocket an allowed solution? The issue here is fuel/engine
weight vs altitude. A multi-stage rocket allows for a 'heavier' first
(and maybe second) stage to get things going for a much lighter final
stage to reach your altitude goal. A single stage rocket is limited in
that it has to haul the whole rocket (less spent fuel) to the goal
altitude, which in turn means more thrust / specific impulse / fuel, and
you can hit a 'law of diminishing returns' that way.




--
Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software -- Download the Model Railroad System
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Binaries for Linux and MS-Windows
-- http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem/

"charles" wrote in message
...
My college rocketry club is trying to build a rocket that has to reach
an altitude of 100K ft... and I was wondering what kind of engine
would be better? solid, liquid, or hybrid?

You might want to Google the ARocket email list, join, and search through
their archives.

Jeff
--
"Take heart amid the deepening gloom
that your dog is finally getting enough cheese" - Deteriorata - National
Lampoon


..

On Nov 20, 10:10 am, charles wrote:
My college rocketry club is trying to build a rocket that has to reach
an altitude of 100K ft... and I was wondering what kind of engine
would be better? solid, liquid, or hybrid?

To start, I'd recommend evolving a solid, then move to hybrid,
and then liquid, as it evolves in complexity.
Hope to watch this group for updates on what you guys decide
and why.
Best
Ken